Happy Birthday IPL: Lesser-known facts on tournament's 16th birthday

18^th April 2008, the day when the entire world witnessed a class-apart contest in the first-ever Indian Premier League (IPL). A brainchild of the then BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi, the IPL took every Indian cricket fan by surprise. Who knew, when it commenced in 2008, that the tournament would earn recognition worldwide and go on to become one of the best franchise leagues in the world?

After weeks of planning, the stepping stone for IPL was laid by the BCCI on April 18, 2008, and 16 years down the line, the tournament is now one of the finest cricketing tournaments in the world. After an exhilarating opening ceremony of the IPL 2008, the tournament finally kick-started when two Indian heavyweights Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid led their respective franchises Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first-ever match of the IPL.

The very first game of the IPL went down as one of the most entertaining games in the tournament’s history thus far, when KKR’s Brendon McCullum notched up a century in the first innings, thereby contributing majorly towards his side’s emphatic victory. McCullum quickly took control with one of the greatest innings of his life to start the T20 carnival, while the hype was focused on the league's development and the potential future of cricket.

The flamboyant opening batter, who became the coach of the side later in 2019, demolished the opposing bowling attack on this exact day in 2008 by amassing 158*(73) to etch his name in history. Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium was rocked by cricket fervor as spectators saw McCullum put on a never-seen-before performance. The New Zealander started the innings smoothly in the first over while opening the batting alongside Ganguly.

But what came next was an amazing show of batting prowess that laid the groundwork for a whopping 222-run first innings total. The knock contained a total of 13 maximums and 10 boundaries. The McCullum innings characterised the initial stages of his long-term affiliation with the Purple and Gold, and the night marked a great episode in the heritage of the game.

The IPL is currently in its 16^th season, and the tournament is now played between 10 teams. Over the years, Mumbai Indians have won the most number of titles, accounting for five, followed by the Chennai Super Kings who have clinched the championship four times. While Kolkata Knight Riders have won the prestigious trophy twice, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Deccan Chargers lifted the cup once. While Rajasthan Royals were crowned the inaugural IPL champions, Gujarat Titans lifted the cup in their very first season in 2022 and remain the defending champions at the IPL 2023.

As IPL completes 16 successfull years, let us look at some interesting facts:

1. In 2022, the IPL media rights for the 2023-27 cycle were sold for a record-breaking INR 48,390.32 crores ($6bn) deal, making it the world's richest cricket tournament.
2. In terms of value per game, the IPL is currently second only to the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. In similar terms, the IPL is superior to the Premier League, Major League Baseball, and the NBA.
3. JioCinema clocked over 1.47 billion views in the opening weekend of IPL 2023, which was higher than the entire digital viewership of the T20 World Cup 2022.
4. The IPL 2023 started off on a high note, and before even reaching the half-way mark, the tournament witnessed a record 2.4 crore concurrent viewership during the RCB vs CSK clash.
5. Chris Gayle's knock of 175* back from 2013 remains to be the highest ever individual score in the tournament's history.
6. Rajasthan Royals have entered IPL finals only on two occasions, one was their debut and another one was their opponent's debut season (Gujarat Titans in 2022).
7. Sam Curran is the only captain to pick three wickets on his captaincy debut (IPL 2023 for PBKS)
8. Interestingly, top two records from the list of most sixes scored in a match have come between CSK and RCB. (2018 and 2023)
9. The broadcasting rights for IPL were sold for a prodigious ₹48390.32 crore (Broadcast and digital), which implies around 87.69 lakh per match.
10. While CSK has changed its captain the least number of times (3), PBKS has witnessed the most number of captains over the years, accounting for 14.
11. For the first time in the history of IPL, four players were purchased for more than 16 crore (IPL 2023- Sam Curran, Cameron Green, Ben Stokes, Nicholas Pooran)
12. Gujarat Titans became just the second team to win a title on their IPL debut.
13. CSK have scored the highest runs by visiting Team in Chinnaswamy Stadium.
14. In IPL 2014, KKR won 14 matches in a row, the longest match-winning streak by any team in IPL.
15. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has bowled the most dot balls in IPL history 1501 (As on April 18, 2023)
16. In IPL 2023, Venkatesh Iyer became just the second player to score century for KKR, breaking a 15-year long draught. Brendon McCullum was the first ever centurion for KKR in the tournament's first-ever game.